The Journey of Olaudah Equiano Essay Example for Free

The Journey of Olaudah Equiano Essay He wrote his narrative in order to teach his readers about the horrors and atrocities that took place every day to people just like him in the hopes that he could advance the movement against the slave trade. In order to do this, Equiano focused not only on the physical journey he took, but the spiritual journey as well. His expedition, from Africa to enslavement to freedom, closely corresponds to his spiritual journey, from ignorance to conversion to religious completion. This allowed his readers to understand his struggles in a way that was more familiar to them, which tied a closer bond between the reader and the author. Since his readers could relate to the two separate but intertwined journeys, Equiano could now enlighten his readers on the revulsion of the slave trade just as he was enlightened through Christianity. Colonial North America was a brand new world, where the opportunities for wealth were plentiful, ever-present, and over-powering and the slave trade was a direct result of man’s greedy drive for wealth. It took over one hundred years for slavery to be abolished, but Equiano’s journey, both physical and spiritual, presented to the world the true dreadfulness behind the slave trade, a paramount mistake on mankind. Equiano opens his narrative with a description of his native African culture, including the customs of clothing, family, food, war, and religious practices. Equiano describes Africans as â€Å"rude and uncultivated† (43) and that all are â€Å"ignorant of their language, religion, manners and customs. (44) His time in Africa ties into his religious ignorance as he suggests that Africans could be the indirect relatives of Christian Europeans. Although this could be considered accurate from today’s standpoints, in the colonial era, this would be taken as an ignorant, blasphemous statement. The African customs and traditions were foreign to most of the world during this time and Equiano presents his former customs, particularly his pagan religious practice s, as not necessarily a result of sin, but rather a result of ignorance. Although Equiano acknowledges the coarse rituals of the African continent, he also notes the unfairness of this situation. â€Å"Are any pains taken to teach them these? Are they treated as men? †¦ Did nature make them inferior to their sons? † (45) While Equiano concedes the savageness of the African people, he still argues that slavery is as an affront to humanity, â€Å"Does not slavery itself depress the mind, and extinguish all its fire† (45) Here, slavery is simply shown as an imbalanced product of European greed and the opportunity of wealth the New World provided. Next, Equiano describes his grim voyage through the Middle Passage and his eventual enslavement on a merchant ship for a British captain. After the ship’s arrival in England, Equiano is exposed to Christianity for the first time, â€Å"a great man in the heavens, called God: but here again I was to all intents and purposes at a loss to understand him. † (67) As Equiano becomes more assimilated to European culture, he develops a deeper understanding of Christianity and is eventually educated and baptized. Equiano’s entire enslavement is closely connected to his religious developments; as more time progresses as a slave he becomes a more erudite follower of Christianity. His religious conversion reaches its precipice when Captain Pascal betrays him and turns him over to be enslaved in the West Indies. â€Å"with contrition of heart, acknowledged my transgression to God, and poured out my soul before him with unfeigned repentance. † (95) In that instant, Equiano gave his life to God and became as Christian as any of his readers. Consequently, it is at this moment his life begins to turn around as he is sold to a kindly Quaker merchant who gives him the opportunity to make his own money in order to purchase his freedom. Equiano’s enslavement is filled with hardships and poor treatment, but is emphasized by his religious transformation. He shows his readers that even as an educated Christian, his life as a slave is meager and dangerous and he questions how Christians could treat others so grotesquely, â€Å"How he, as a Christian, could answer for the horrid act before God? (104) Once again, Equiano shows there are no boundaries that man, when blinded by greed, will not cross. After some time, Equiano acquires enough money to purchase his freedom and completes his long excursion to becoming free. Just as his physical journey becomes complete, his spiritual journey reaches an endpoint. Equiano now bases his life around God and â€Å"Now the Bible was my only companion and comfort. † (191) When hi s ship picks up some men stranded at sea, Equiano takes the most impactful step in Christianity as he starts to spread the word of God. and took great delight in him, and used much supplication to God for his conversion. † (203) Equiano links his freedom from slavery to his religious completion in order to help his readers fully grasp his journeys completion. Both are immense accomplishments, but the reader can more adeptly understand the end to a spiritual journey rather than the journey from a slave to freedman. Although Equiano is no longer a slave, he hopes his story enlightens readers of the terrors of the slave trade, just as Christianity had enlightened him to leading a life for God. Olaudah Equiano’s slave narrative was one of the first published works of a firsthand account of the American slave trade. Equiano introduced the world to how slaves, such as himself, were treated on a daily basis. However, what makes his narrative so effective is the way he connects his physical and spiritual journeys together. Anyone who was to read his narrative would have a hard time relating to his physical struggles beyond his descriptions, so he effectively connects them with his spiritual voyage and struggles. This allows the reader to connect to Equiano in a more relatable way and helps strengthen his case against the slave trade. Today, we can use his narrative to find out about what colonial North America was like during this time. The New World was, simply enough, a vast farmland with an unlimited crop yield and in order to harvest these crops, sufficient labor was needed. The quest for wealth helped formulate the slave trade, but man’s greed turned it into a business. Colonial North America was a time full of growth and opportunities, all tried to take advantage as much as possible. Equiano was one of the luckier slaves and his life fits into the popular American success story of patience, hard-work, and endurance as important qualities. Equiano was enlightened through Christianity and he hoped the story he shared would enlighten the world about affront to humanity that slavery was. Over two hundred years later, we are still reading his narrative.

Rainy Mountain :: Essays Papers

Rainy Mountain Summary of â€Å" The Way To Rainy Mountain â€Å" ( Momaday p. 430 ) Momaday, tells the story of his grandmother and how she evolved from a land of her ancestry. She, being one of the few â€Å"belonging to the last culture to evolve in North America† (431). In a descriptive detail, Momaday, portraits the events that takes us on a journey through time before our modernized society had come into existence. A time of survival, rituals, suffering, and extinction. He starts out by setting the scenery of the place where his grandmother lived. A somewhat rigid area of the Southern Plains, where the seasons were of raging intensity. A place in time occupied by his grandmothers people, the Kiowas. A very â€Å"lordly and dangerous society of fighters and thieves, hunters and priest of the sun† (431). They had descended down out of Montana, and â€Å"war was their sacred business, and they were the finest ho rseman the world has ever known† (430). But as time had evolved into the migration of civilization, her people were forced to surrender their way of life to the soldiers. Fortunately, this was before her time. Momadays grandmother, Aho, lived an eventful life amongst her people, bearing stories of her participation in one of the last rituals of the sun-dance, which was interrupted by the soldiers.

Employment and Human Resource Management

While this may be true to an extent, I do believe that the opposite Is also true, attractive people are over-looked due to their outward appearance and are taken less seriously even when qualified or more qualified than another candidate. This Is not to mention that life brings challenges, hurts, and UN- pleasantries, regardless of how a person looks. So we cannot be too quick to say that beautiful people have better lives. In this case though, the Issue is beauteous as a â€Å"free-pass† in a sense, or a way into a job position without the proper qualifications (or in spite of the proper qualifications).There has been some evidence that people who hire for Job openings do give preference at times to people who are obviously physically attractive. Researchers have noted that â€Å"beautiful people† tend to charm interviewers with their looks and create a positive tone and impression based solely off of how they look. Assess the Chair's behavior from a human resource man agement perspective. I feel that if people try to regulate every detail of a hiring process, Including the way people look, there will be even more discrimination.When an exceptionally beautiful or attractive candidate Is Interviewed, managers may feel pressure not to hire them Just so there are no Lies or tension In the workplace as to why that person was hired. In this case, though, it is not even evident that the Chair made an incorrect decision. Other department members should allow the Chair to do their job and trust that they have the proper qualifications to interview and choose quality candidates. There are times when candidates are chosen without having all of the qualifications of another candidate.There are job openings available that specify that a certain degree is referred but not required. The Chair was said to have â€Å"overlooked† a more qualified candidate, but that does not negate the fact that this interviewee may have also been qualified. A lot of times a degree or certain qualification sets are not the only thing being considered. A person who shows that they are able and willing to complete a job with a great attitude may win Job offers faster than a very-highly qualified person who may be lacking In other areas. Decision.The hiring committee should do their best to work as a team and keep down conflict within the workplace. The Chair made a hiring decision and that decision should be upheld. Employees may feel that the Chair is easily swayed and become more involved in the hiring process than they are even supposed to be. What happens when someone is interviewed that a worker Just doesn't like from their outward appearance? Going to the chair to try to get hiring decision overturned should not be a route taken too often by employees. I feel that there is already enough â€Å"looks-discrimination† in the workplace.When a person enters a room to be interviewed they are being Judged not only their answers UT also how they lo ok. Research shows that 74% of interviewers make hiring decisions within the first minutes of an interview. They Judge looks by the person's appearance, voice tone, handshake, and body-language. These are all surface characteristics†¦ There is enough Judgment in interviews, applicants should not have to be subjected to on-looking, non-involved employees' Judgments as well. Discuss to what degree and why attractive candidates may be given unfair consideration during hiring processes.This question makes me wonder, honestly, if people would feel better if attractive omen or men were interviewed through a wall or only via telephone. People come in all sizes and shapes, with different features and looks. Attractive people cannot help how they look and are often not even thinking about their looks when working or at an interview. Believe it or not, a lot of times attractive people would like a little less attention based off looks when it is time to be professional. More often than n ot, other people are more hooked on the candidates looks than the candidate themselves are.

Major Categories Of Social Influence Conformity,...

Social Influence Katrina Venta PSY 226 Community College of Aurora March 11, 2016 Abstract There are three major categories of social influence: conformity, compliance, and obedience. Conformity is the change of behavior to be able to fit in and gain approval from other people. Compliance, on the other hand, is when a person changes their behavior in response to being asked directly. While obedience is a response to an authority figure directing an individual (Kenrick, Neuberg, Cialdini, 2010, p. 183). These social influences affect not just individuals, but society as a whole, and one of the real world influences that will be highlighted in this paper is the issue of bullying. All three of these factors that make up social influence intertwine and work together in a way where it has a direct impact on an individual, it is beneficial to society and our own lives, but it can also be destructive in the long run. Conformity, Compliance, and Obedience in Action We see conformity, compliance, and obedience in action on a day to day basis. These three categories are manifested in our own homes, our workplace, at school, and just about any kind of setting that we find ourselves in. Conformity aims to gain approval from those around us, so an example of this would be if people were talking about the latest fashion trend and this girl, even though she does not really have a clue about it, tries to jump into the conversation and starts making up stories just soShow MoreRelatedSocial Psychology: Bringing It All Together Essay3853 Words   |  16 PagesSocial Psychology: Bringing It All Together PSY 301 Sarah Koerner-Jordan October 22, 2012 Franchelle Guy Social Psychology: Bringing It All Together Social psychology is the scientific study of human thoughts, feelings, and behavior as they relate to and are influenced by others (Feenstra, 2011). It is a broad field that covers a variety of topics. 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